How Does Tim O Brien Use Art Therapy In The Things They Carried

The novel The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien, is a story narrated by a man who fought in the Vietnam war and suffers from PTSD. The Things they carried is written as a form of therapy concerning the author's PTSD. Tim O’Brien rewrites his experiences of the war as he regrets much of the stuff he did during the war and things he could have prevented. The story has two different versions and both versions have different experiences considering Tim O’Brien switched the stories for his good. Defamiliarization is very common throughout the novel because Tim O’Brien uses it to view the differences between reality and literature. Defamiliarization is another way the author uses a form of art therapy through the narrative.
One of the main forms of therapy throughout the novel is defamiliarization, this is shown when the author switched reality and literature, Tim O’Brien uses this as a form of art therapy due to

Throughout the story, Tim O’Brien writes about things he carried from the war to his normal life and speaks about the difficulties of it. He carries things from the war to his normal life because of the PTSD he suffers from. He brings words from the war over to normal life because the words used in war have become the new normal for him whether it be good or bad, but either way, PTSD reminds him about the experiences using these words during the war. The story states, “He doesn’t know how to live with the guilt of the war. He uses words that he would only use in the war because he is not used to normal life after the war.” This quote provides the reader with an understanding of survivor guilt and intrusive memories since he carries on the words and experiences to his normal life after the war. The author gives a good understanding of PTSD throughout the novel and survivor guilt and intrusive memories are one of the things Tim O’Brien writes about the